Question

Generation

Number of purple flowers

Number of white flowers

1

705

224

2

792

189

3

834

102

4

889

84

5

938

21

6

952

0


Ralph wanted to breed a pea plant that produced only purple flowers. He continued to breed purple-flower producing pea plants together over six generations. The results of Ralph's selective breeding are shown above. What did the selective breeding do to the population of pea plants?
A.
caused a new species of pea plant to form
B.
caused a pea plant to exhibit a new characteristic
C.
increased its genetic diversity
D.
decreased its genetic diversity

Answer 1

The results of Ralph's selective breeding show a clear trend towards an increasing number of purple flowers and a decreasing number of white flowers over the generations. This indicates that the selective breeding favored the trait for purple flowers, likely reducing the genetic variation in the population since the white-flower trait became less common.

Given this information, the correct answer is:

**D. decreased its genetic diversity.**